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PhotoshopApplication · Adobe

CVE-2023-21575

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-02-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 23.5.4 / 24.1.1 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Photoshop version 23.5.3 (and earlier), 24.1 (and earlier) are affected by an out-of-bounds write vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. Exploitation of this issue requires user interaction in that a victim must open a malicious file.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Adobe Photoshop contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability in its file parsing logic. When a user opens a specially crafted malicious file, the application writes data beyond allocated memory boundaries, potentially allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the current user.

MitigationUpdate Adobe Photoshop to version 23.5.4 or 24.2 (or later) per Adobe's security bulletin. Avoid opening untrusted or unsolicited image files until the patch is applied.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
PhotoshopApplication
Affected:>= 23.0.0, < 23.5.4>= 24.0.0, < 24.1.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Adobe Photoshop is installed
    Check for Photoshop installation on the system. On Windows, look in Program Files/Adobe or Programs and Features. On macOS, check /Applications for Adobe Photoshop.
    Affected if Adobe Photoshop is present on the system
  2. Determine installed Photoshop version number
    Open Photoshop and go to Help > About Photoshop (Windows) or Photoshop menu > About Photoshop (macOS). Alternatively, check the application entry in Windows Programs and Features or macOS Applications folder Get Info.
    Affected if A version number is displayed or found in system info
  3. Compare version against affected range 23.x
    If the version starts with 23.x, check if it is less than 23.5.4 (for example: 23.0.0 through 23.5.3 are vulnerable).
    Affected if Version is 23.0.0 through 23.5.3 inclusive
  4. Compare version against affected range 24.x
    If the version starts with 24.x, check if it is less than 24.1.1 (for example: 24.0.0 through 24.1.0 are vulnerable).
    Affected if Version is 24.0.0 through 24.1.0 inclusive

The system is affected if Adobe Photoshop is installed and its version falls within 23.0.0 to 23.5.3 or 24.0.0 to 24.1.0.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 23.5.4 / 24.1.1 or later
Fixed in 23.5.424.1.1
Interim mitigation

Update Adobe Photoshop to version 23.5.4 or 24.2 (or later) per Adobe's security bulletin. Avoid opening untrusted or unsolicited image files until the patch is applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Photoshop 23.5.4 or 24.1.1

  1. Check the current Adobe Photoshop version by going to Help > About Photoshop
  2. Close any open instances of Photoshop
  3. Back up any critical Photoshop projects and settings as a precaution
  4. Download Adobe Photoshop version 23.5.4 (if currently on 23.x) or version 24.1.1 (if currently on 24.x) from the official Adobe website or Creative Cloud desktop application
  5. Install the updated version by running the downloaded installer or using the Creative Cloud update function
  6. Restart Photoshop after installation completes
  7. Verify the installed version by checking Help > About Photoshop to confirm the update was successful
Caveat Point release upgrades typically have minimal breaking changes; however, always test critical workflows after updating security patches

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Photoshop Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-21575 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data